People start small businesses all kinds of ways, but one common factor within these diverse origin stories is the difficulty of controlling money. Money, essentially, is the reason all businesses exist. When your business starts up, it’s flowing all over the place.

If you don’t have a lot of experience in the world of business accounting, it can be difficult to get the finances right during the critical early stages of your business’s existence. Following the following steps will help you correct early errors, and ultimately stay in business for a lot longer.

Separate Private and Business Finances

It’s common, in the early stages of your small business’s existence, to mix up your personal and business finances. This is a big no-no, not only because of the legal and tax implications, but because of the risk you put yourself through.

If your business is reliant on your personal finances for its survival, it’s probably not a strong business to begin with. What’s more, organizing your finances this way puts your personal finances in a precarious position. What happens if your business goes into debt? What happens if you aren’t profitable for another 12 months? What if you or your business is audited? It’s always best to partition your business from your personal finances through legal channels like Limited Liability Corporations. This means that if your business goes bust, your private assets will be protected.

Acquire Adequate Financing Early On

A generous cash infusion is usually necessary for a small business to thrive in its early days. Many businesses fail to grow in these vital early stages, specifically because they’ve been to scared of debt to get adequate financing. Other people limit their early financing because they are denied a loan through traditional lending channels. If your bank has denied you a loan, consider an online lender that caters specifically to small businesses, like https://www.merchantmoney.co.uk/small-business-loans/unsecured-business-loans/.

Borrowing money is inherently risky, but it’s necessary if you want your new business to grow and be competitive.

Invest in Adequate Marketing

Marketing is an expense, but proper marketing will yield results that more than pay for it. In the early days of your business, you want as much work as you can handle, if not a little more. It’s hard to become a household name in your region, or within your industry. To do this, you’ve got to get your name out there and then exceed expectations when it comes time to do the actual work. Eventually, sales will make themselves, but you’ve got to create a marketing engine to drive them in the early days.

There are many ways in which money comes into play in the early days of a business. It can be dizzying to try to manage it all, but you’ve got to succeed in this regard if you want to succeed in the long term. Follow these strategies and do your own research to find other financial tactics specific to your business’s industry.